Grannys Story (Teaser 4)

“Granny, will you tell us a story?” A young boy comes around the corner
into the warm hearth room. An old woman
sits in rocking chair knitting and pauses to smile at the little child who sits
down next to the fire. A slightly
younger girl gripping a ratty blanket comes around the same corner and sits
down next to the boy.

“Tell the one about the dragon granny” demands the boy.

“Yeah the Dwagon” repeats the girl.
“pwease?”

The old woman chuckles “alright alright” she puts her knitting into a
basket on the floor and pats her lap looking at the girl. She hops to her feet, her hair wild as she
bounces up onto her grandmother’s lap.
The old woman covers her with her blanket and attempts to brush her hair
back with her fingers.

“Are you sure that’s the story you want to hear” she asks in her aged
voice, “it’s a scary one.”

“uh huh” says the boy.

“uh huh” repeats the girl.

“Alright then, do you remember the story of how Noctus came to be? When the darkness was cast over the sky?

“Yes” both of the children respond.

“Alright, well this story picks up where that one left off.” The woman brushes a strand of sparkling grey
and green hair behind her ear. “King
Tardish was an old man, so old that he was in bed every day of his life. His son Prince Adain was ruling Kalentenia
but he had been turned in a vampyre by the mage Malik.”

The little girl gasps at the word vampyre and grips her blanket tight. Granny wraps a comforting arm around the
little girl.

“Shortly after the darkness was cast by Malik the King died from his
age, leaving the Prince to become King.
Malik having complete control over Adain was able to rule the Kingdom as
he see fit. Undead walked the lands at
all hours because of the eternal night and the people of the city bent to the
will of their new King.”

“Generations passed and Malik had waged war on the other cities of
Fenorra. Imprisoning all those who were
deemed not fit to serve in his dark army. This terrible army included the likes
of undead, vampyres and humans. Any who
opposed his forces fell, and soon more than half of Fenorra was within his
grasp.”

“People began to whisper about who the mage truly was. Many believed he was the legendary vampyre
Maliask. Though none could confirm if
this was true, rumors began to spread across the land.”

“The remaining free people of Fenorra banded together and organized a
grand onslaught against Malik and his Vampyre prince at their city gates. And with that the grandest army that had ever
been mustered marched across the great plains and Denaria forest, crossed
rivers and mountains and arrived at Kalentenia sword ablaze.”

“I would have slain all of the undead” the boy yelled jumping up from where
he sat. Grabbing a small wooden sword off the wall, the boy begins to swing
wildly at imaginary foes. “Clang, clink,
bash!”

Granny chuckles at the boy petting the little girl’s hair. “Do you want to hear the rest of the story or
not?”

The boy says “yes” putting the wooden sword back where he found it and
quickly sits back down on the floor.

“Where was I?” granny asks herself, brushing the same clump of green
and grey hair behind her ear again. “Ah
yes, the army of all armies had arrived at Kalentenia, it could be seen in the
distance under a blanket of night in the sunrise. The army marched on until their blades met
their enemies.”

“They fought bravely, many fell at the hands of the enemy, and no
matter how vast their numbers the enemy forces didn’t need to rest, the undead
and Vampyres kept coming at them. There
was no retreating, there was no way out, either be killed or become slaves.”

“Weeks went by; the forces of Fenorra fought their way into the eternal
night it was at that point the Prince of Kalentenia was slain. His body fell to dust and was trampled by the
ongoing battle; a small victory among devastation.”

The old woman looks down at the children, the boy sits with his chin
cupped in his hands eagerly waiting for more; the little girl’s eyes are wide
with excitement, unblinking. Granny
adjusts the fire with a metal poker and clears her throat to continue.

“With the defeat of his Prince Malik himself was said to have emerged
from the castle, standing high up on the tallest tower. Wearing long robes of black his fingers said
to be bloody he yelled strange words into the night air, more undead rising
from the ground in response. Malik was
seen thrusting his hands into the air and yelling causing many of the men to
fall, their blood being pulled from their bodies.”

“The undead seemed unending the bodies and spirits of the battling men
were damaged, about to give up hope when a thunderous sound echoed over the
rolling plains. The sound came again,
this time louder and coming from the south.
Those who could look watched in the distance to see a dark vast figure
appear in the air. It was black as the
darkest night, and drew closer. The
thunderous sound came again, the roar screeched and bellowed over the plains,
piercing the ears of any living.”

“The massive wing span of the legendary black dragon flew into the ever
night, its scales reflecting the light of the flames below. Its immense body quickly flew over head, the
wind from its wings knocking grown men from their feet. With a bellowing roar the dragon let loose a
fire upon the evil army so hot it burned white, destroying all it touched.”

“The men of the Fenorrian army both scared and stunned cheered for
their savior. Only stories of such a
creature have ever been heard, and in all its beauty and fierceness it had
saved them from death. Finishing off the
few undead that were left they were able to begin healing and recovering their
men.”

“The dragon flew on, Malik screamed into the night air in anger of what
has been done. The dragon hovered above
the evil mage and said “this is not your world to take Maliask” and with that
grabbed the mage in one of its mighty claws.
The dragon carried him into the sky, it is said Maliask laughed as the
dragon carried him up to the clouds.”

“YAY!!!” the little girl cheers for the dragon.

“Beginning to fly east the dragon’s silhouette could be seen in the
dusky sky when suddenly a sharp roar was heard, sounding different that the
previous ones upon its arrival. Again
the sharp roar bellowed through the sky and the dragon could be seen bucking in
the air. Dropping Maliask the dragon flew
further east, falling from the sky as it did.
As he flew those with a good eye could see that its scales were shedding
and it struggled to stay in the air.”

“Not moments later the dragon let out a roar like none had ever heard,
the ground shook and the wind blew even the sky seemed to twist around its
body, the sound was deafening and ended with a shriek that momentarily crippled
all within its sound. And with that the
dragon’s body went limp and fell into the darkness.”

Tears begin to well up in the little girl’s eyes.

“Oh don’t cry my dear; the dragon gave himself to save the people of
Fenorra. It was his choice; he gave us
all a chance to survive. You know, it is
said that the dragon crashed with such a force that it broke the earth open.”

The boy jumps up and grabs the little girl’s blanket, and tosses it
over his shoulder stretching it out like a cape. He begins to run around the room and flap his
arms like wings. “If I was a dragon I
would have bit Maliask into pieces. RAWR”

The girl climbs down joining her brother. “Yeah, and I would have smooshed him” she
says stomping on the floor. “RAWR”

Granny chuckles lightly “Alright now, it’s past your bedtime. Off with you” standing up to usher them out of
the room. The children turn the corner
to head to their rooms, taking a deep breath the old woman looks out the window
into the night sky, and wipes a tear from her eye.